Stop the Deportation of Oneita, Clive and Suyapa so They can Keep Their Families Together

Stop the deportation of both families so Oneita, Clive and Suyapa can keep their families together and protect the lives of their children. Both families are mixed- status families - some are undocumented, some have green cards, some are U.S. citizens. Both families have been living in the U.S. for years and complying with what ICE asked of them. Oneita and Clive came here from Jamaica 15 years ago fleeing violence. They have seven children, two of whom are citizens. Their asylum case was wrongly denied, and they now face being separated from their seven children. They take Sanctuary with their two youngest. Suyapa and her five children are from Honduras and came here four years ago fleeing violence. Suyapa’s asylum case was also wrongly denied. Suyapa enters Sanctuary with four of her five children.

Why is this important?

Both families are making the hard, but bold decision to enter Sanctuary to protest immoral and unjust immigration policies. They are only two examples of the millions of people who have been affected by the Trump Administration’s extremist anti-immigrant agenda. Separating children from their parents at the border, ending TPS for many countries, increasing enforcement and arrests, and changing asylum rules to exclude victims of domestic violence and gang violence are some of the policies that devastate immigrant communities here in Philadelphia and across the country. It also shows that the Trump Administration separating families does not just happen at the border, but everywhere in the country when people are detained or deported. This is a moral crisis. These two families from the Jamaican and Central American communities stand together to challenge these policies, showing that this is not just a Latinx issue, but one that affects all immigrant communities.

In taking Sanctuary, they step into a tradition thousands of years old that confronts immoral and unjust laws. The First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) was part of the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s. In September 1984, FUMCOG provided Sanctuary to a Guatemalan couple fleeing persecution and organized to change U.S. policy. Thirty-four years later – almost to the day - they again answer this sacred call in an urgent time.

Please support Oneita, Clive, Suyapa and their families by signing and sharing this petition.

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Reasons for signing

Our nation was formed on immigrants. The current administration acts as though anyone without lily white skin is a terrorist and sucking funds from people. This government is increasing fear and increasing racism into this country.

Evelyn M.
2018-11-20 12:44:59 -0500

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I love humanitarian. anything I can do to assist!

Valerie B.
2018-11-09 17:43:49 -0500

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I signed because our country's immigration policies are so unfair and becoming a legal immigrant or citizen is often tied to their financial status or who they know.